TGA competitive comparison

Navas Instruments policy is to constantly improve and upgrade
TGA and MMS software and hardware (patents) for customer- specific needs.

Navas Instruments TGA's are designed for CUSTOMER INDEPENDENCE AND INEXPENSIVE OWNERSHIP. It is not our policy to charge customers high prices on parts or service but to have a satisfied customer base. The parts used in Navas Instruments are standard, brand name, digital precision balances and temperature controllers, standard frames, all standard components that do not require a highly-trained technician to repair.

The only electronics in Navas Instruments equipment are two (2) PC boards inside PC (Navas Instruments design), furnace has no electronics but electrical components. Replacement of boards is easy and inexpensive. Navas software takes many precautions to help detect and prevent malfunctions.

Navas Automatic TGA-2000A (patented)	Competitor's Manual TGA
Metal crucibles can be used and also ceramic crucibles as an option for analysis of some materials	Breakable ceramic crucibles, no other option
Metal covers for volatile-matter determination	Breakable ceramic covers, no other option
Two metal carousels	One breakable ceramic carousel
Metal balance spindle	Breakable ceramic balance spindle
Metal balance pedestal	Breakable ceramic balance pedestal
Fully automatic operation, auto crucible cover placement and removal for volatiles	Manual operation, manual placement and removal of crucible cover with the furnace lid open at high temperature
No danger to operator	Danger of 600 ºC burns for operator
No danger of covers falling inside furnace and loss of analysis	Possible danger of covers falling inside furnace and loss of analysis
Software upgrades available	Software upgrades are not easily available
In case of power failure only a backup power supply of 300 watts is needed (only to support the PC)	In case of power failure, a very expensive backup power supply of 4000 watts is needed (PC and furnace)
Automatic restart after power failure	Automatic restart after power failure is not available
Productivity - works unattended at night or weekends	Operator needed for removing crucible covers at 600 ºC
Volatile results are repetitive as crucible covers are placed and removed automatically within the furnace (no sample oxidizing)	Volatile results are operator-dependent as furnace lid opens for the operator to place and remove the crucible covers by hand. Hazardous for operator at 600 ºC
All mechanical, pneumatic and electrical parts are standard (very few proprietary components)	Parts are competitor specific, only replaceable by same manufacturer
Does not require highly-trained technician to repair, no special training needed	Can only be repaired by trained personnel, more cost for customer
Complete brand name digital precision balance with display with 0.1 mg sensitivity for easy troubleshooting	No balance, just a load cell and expensive to replace
Brand name temperature controller with display	No temperature controller and no display, specific controller developed by the manufacturer
Carousel rotation by stepper motor, independent of crucible positions	Pneumatic rotation one (1) position at a time, Rotation to every position even to empty positions

A complete TGA analysis (depending on the coal types, on the weight of the samples and the amount of ash) may take several hours. It takes about 15 minutes for loading the samples in the furnace carousel and about 40-60 minutes (or even more depending on room temperature) for cooling the furnace before a new analysis can be started. Our competitors TGA will only perform two (2) cycles per eight (8) hours work because they have to wait 2 + 1/2 hours for the cooling to remove the crucible covers by hand on the third batch after volatiles at 600 ºC.
Navas Instruments automatic TGA-2000A CAN BE LOADED 5 MINUTES BEFORE LEAVING THE LAB. THE INSTRUMENT WILL WORK UNATTENDED. NAVAS INSTRUMENTS SINGLE OR DUAL TGA-2000A GIVES YOU MORE. WE RUN THREE (3) CYCLES PER EIGHT (8) HOURS WORK, ONE (1) EXTRA CYCLE AT NIGHT.

Navas Instruments provides a one (1) year warranty on all metal parts, carousels, spindle, balance pedestal, crucibles and crucible covers.
Competitors do not warrant any ceramic parts for any time period

Navas Instruments has a more reliable product than competitors with no expensive spares or consumables to purchase. Higher productivity due to automation (day and night work unattended), better reproducibility and repeatability and our automatic crucible cover placement and removal for volatiles (patented), which eliminates the chance of coal oxidation and operator-dependent results for volatile matter determination.

Navas Instruments TGA-2000A is also a safer instrument to operate. It does not present a burn danger to operator when the covers need to be removed at 600 ºC.

Navas TGA-1000	Competitor TGA
Metal crucibles can be used and also ceramic crucibles as an option for analysis of some materials	Breakable ceramic crucibles, no other option
Metal balance spindle	Breakable ceramic balance spindle
Metal balance pedestal	Breakable ceramic balance pedestal
Software upgrades available	Software upgrades are not easily available
In case of power failure only a backup power supply of 300 watts is needed (only to support the PC)	In case of power failure a very expensive backup power supply of 4000 watts is needed (PC and furnace)
Automatic restart after power failure	Automatic restart after power failure is not available
All mechanical, pneumatic and electrical parts are standard (very few proprietary components)	Parts are competitor specific, only replaceable by the same manufacturer
Does not require highly-trained technician to repair, no special training needed	Can only be repaired by trained personnel, more costly.
Complete brand name digital precision balance with display with 0.1 mg sensitivity for easy troubleshooting	No balance, just a load cell and expensive to replace
Brand name temperature controller with display	No temperature controller and no display, specific controller developed by the manufacturer
Carousel rotation by stepper motor, independent of crucible positions	Pneumatic rotation one position at a time, Rotation to every position even to empty positions

Navas Instruments provides one (1) year warranty on all metal parts: carousels, spindle, balance pedestal and crucibles
Competitors do not warrant any ceramic parts.

Our TGA is a more reliable and easy to repair lab instrument. With a minimal number of consumable parts it will provide years of reliable service.